UIL State Swim Storylines: Carroll Will Lead DFW Charge Again
The 2020 UIL state swim meet will take place at The University of Texas at Austin's Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on Saturday February 15th. VYPE DFW gives you storylines and athletes to watch before the season's final event.
UIL 6A
Southlake Carroll Can Continue Dynasty: It shouldn't be a surprise that the state power qualified as many top tier swimmers as it did. We start on the girls' side because the group includes Kit Kat Zenick in the 50-yard Freestyle and 100-yard Freestyle, Riley Francis in the 200-yard Freestyle, Corbyn Cormack in the 200-yard Individual Medley, Hailey Hernandez in the 1-meter Diving, and three relay teams (200-yard Medley, 200-yard Freestyle and 400-yard Freestyle). Meanwhile, the boys' team will lean on Ryan Perham in the 50-yard Freestyle and 100-yard Butterfly.
Flower Mound Will Make A Splash: The 6A girls program continues Lewisville ISD's athletic tradition by sending 50-yard Freestyle and 500-yard Freestyle swimmer Maggie Gholston and its 200-yard Freestyle Relay team to the Forty Acres.
Others to Watch: Keep an eye on Mansfield's Maddie Mechling in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard Backstroke, Allen's Anni Fan in the 100-yard Butterfly and Rockwall-Heath's Alaya Smith in the 100-yard Breaststroke.
UIL 5A
Trio Leads Area District: Frisco ISD, one of the fastest growing school districts in Texas, will send notable competitors to the end of the season event. Frisco Wakeland will be represented by 100-yard butterfly swimmer Conor McKenna and its 200-yard Freestyle Relay team, while Frisco Lone Star's Joelle Reddin will compete in the 200-yard individual medley and 500-yard Freestyle.
Three Schools Will Battle In Two Events: Aledo's Elijah Sohn qualified for the 100-yard Freestyle and 200-yard Freestyle, The Colony's Morgan Gullette did the same in the 200-yard Freestyle and 500-yard Freestyle, and Lucas Lovejoy's Jed Michael Jones and Eason Jones will compete in the boys and girls' 200-yard individual medley.
Others to Watch: On the boys' side, you'll see Fort Worth Boswell's Hunter Boniface in the 100-yard Butterfly and Mansfield Legacy's Eric Stelmar in the 100-yard Backstroke. In girls' competition, McKinney North's Kiara Xanthos will travel to Austin to swim the 100-yard Breaststroke.
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Photo by VYPE Media's Bradley Collier.
UIL Realignment Introduces New DFW School, Affects Rivalries & More
Thousands of Texas communities were affected by the 2020-2022 UIL Realignment, and Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex high schools were among them. Check out five things to know about Monday's football announcement.
No. 1 Out-of-Town Guests: San Angelo Central may not be on area teams' district schedules anymore, but that's not preventing other out-of-towners from matching up with local squads in late regular season games during the 2020 and 2021 football seasons. We start in 10-6A, with Tyler Lee charging from East Texas to play Dallas Skyline, Mesquite ISD (Mesquite, Mesquite Horn and North Mesquite) and Rockwall ISD (Rockwall and Rockwall-Heath). The neighboring 11-6A will feature Waco schools' (Waco and Waco Midway) trips to Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lake Ridge, Mansfield and Waxahachie in league play. Other notable out-of-market opponents are Abilene Cooper in 3-5A Division I, John Tyler and Longview in 7-5A Division I and Waco University in 5-5A Division II.
No. 2 Allen & Plano Part Ways: Allen and Plano are separated by 7.2 miles, so it's not a surprise that their high schools were longtime competitors in the same UIL football district. But, that will change for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Allen will team up with Aubrey Braswell, Denton Guyer, Little Elm, McKinney, McKinney Boyd and Prosper in 5-6A, while Plano ISD schools (Plano, Plano East and Plano West) have planned battles with Coppell, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Flower Mound Marcus and Hebron in 6-6A action. If you're wondering about the future of the Allen/Plano East rivalry, it's expected to be played as the teams' season opener the next two years.
No. 3 Private Power Faces New Tests: Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas is one of the two UIL private school members and has found vast success in the league since it joined in the early 2000s. The Rangers are coming off an impressive 2019 playoff run to the UIL 6A Division II Region II Final, but have new challenges for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. As a member of 9-6A the last two years, they played Allen, McKinney, McKinney Boyd, Plano, Plano East, Plano West and Prosper. Now, they will make the move to 7-6A and battle Irving ISD (Irving, Irving MacArthur, Irving Nimitz) and Richardson ISD (Lake Highlands, Richardson, Richardson Berkner and Richardson Pearce).
No. 4 New Kid On The Block: Collin County has grown enough to give another one of its communities a high school. The Rock Hill Blue Hawks will kickoff their varsity sports district competition against fellow 7-5A Division II members Denison, Frisco, Frisco Lebanon Trail, Frisco Liberty, Frisco Memorial, Lake Dallas, Lucas Lovejoy and Princeton.
No. 5 Get Your Maps Ready: Denton and Denton Ryan will move from Region I to Region II in 5A Division I and Duncanville saw a similar transition from 6A Region I to 6A Region II, so they will have different playoff paths for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
For more sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEDFW) on Twitter.
Looking to get more involved? Check out ShopVYPE for fresh gear that supports local schools and the VYPE U Ambassador Program. To sign up for the VYPE U Program, apply at VYPEU.com.